


Out of This Necessity

by CallMeBombshell



Category: Battlestar Galactica
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-03
Updated: 2009-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:48:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallMeBombshell/pseuds/CallMeBombshell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>She's staring at the photograph and she's talking about Zak but her fingers are tracing his figure instead and Lee wonders how long she's been thinking about this.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of This Necessity

**Author's Note:**

> I was re-watching season 3 again a few weeks back and I realised that, while Unfinished Business certainly laid the groundwork for Kara and Lee to rekindle their relationship, it didn't actually explain exactly how they ended up in the not-entirely-new affair we see them in in Eye of Jupiter. This doesn't actually explain how they got there, either, but it's definitely a start.

Kat has been dead for six hours and seventeen minutes when Lee enters the bunkroom to find Kara standing before her open locker, fingers tracing over the picture taped to the mirror. Lee stops just inside the door, which swings shut behind him. The silence seems strange, something to do with the weariness in his bones and the buzzing in his ears and the way Kara's staring at the photograph like she can bring it back to life.

She doesn't turn, doesn't say anything for long moments, and Lee has almost resolved to speak first when Kara finally opens her mouth.

"How much time do you think we have, Lee?" she asks, and Lee doesn't spare a moment to be surprised that she knew it was him. He hasn't spoken, and she hasn't turned, and he knows that from that angle, she can't see him reflected in the mirror, but it doesn't seem to matter; she always knows where he is.

"How much time for what, Kara?" he asks, because he can think of a dozen different answers to a dozen different unsaid questions with a dozen different levels of truthfulness, but he isn't sure which one she means this time.

"Until it's the three of us again," Kara says, and her voice is so soft he barely hears her. Then he understand what she's said and he feels something in his chest clench. She's staring at the photograph and she's talking about Zak but her fingers are tracing his figure instead and Lee wonders how long she's been thinking about this.

"Kara, no," Lee feels his throat tighten. "We've made it this far, and we're going to keep going."

"Yeah?" Kara's voice is hollow and empty and Lee wishes she would turn around, because somehow he feels like, if he could just see her eyes, everything will be alright.

"Kara, look at me."

He tries to ignore the faintly pleading note in his voice, but maybe it's the key because now she's moving, turning to face him. There's something hard and brittle in the set of her mouth and Lee wonders for a moment if she's trying not to cry or trying not to hit something. He doesn't realise he's moved until he feels his fingertips brush her shoulder. He stills, barely touching her; it's the first time he's touched her deliberately since the dance, and he hesitates, waiting for the floodgates to crash open the way they always seem to do whenever he gets too close.

But all he feels is the slight tremble in her shoulders and he knows she needs this. He curls his hands around her and draws her close, fitting her against his chest and settling his arms around her the way he's done so many times before, but not in nearly a year and a half. For a moment he remembers a prison ship and the way his smile stretched so wide when she came suddenly around the corner, when he hadn't been sure she was alive. Kara seems to fall into him slightly, just as she did then, and something in the way her breath ghosts across his ear feels like relief.

"We've got time left still, Kara," he whispers against her neck. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. I'm not ready to let you go just yet."

Kara's whisper if muffled against his shoulder. "And what if you don't have a choice, Lee?"

Lee tightens his arms around her, pressing her into him as though he could bury her inside himself. He thinks vaguely that maybe it'd be better that way, tucked away inside his chest where he could keep her safe. There's a voice in the back of his head that's telling him that she's already there, and he ducks his head against her shoulder, bringing her closer.

"I don't care, Kara," he whispers, and the fierceness in his voice surprises him. "I am not letting you go."

Kara says nothing, just turns her face into the side of his neck. Lee feels her fingers digging into his back, and he closes his eyes, concentrating on the feel of her in his arms again. He almost doesn't hear when she speaks, but her breath is hot against his collar, making him shiver slightly.

"Okay," she whispers. "Okay."

Lee isn't sure how long they stay like that, locked together, chests pressed close when they breathe; it could be only minutes, but it feels more like forever and Lee wonders for a moment if this is what the future could have been like.

"This is the beginning, Kara," he says, and he doesn't quite know what he means, but somehow he thinks he's right. "We'll keep fighting, Kara, and we'll fight until we can't, and we'll get through this. I promise."

"Is this the part where we talk about bright shiny futures, Lee?" Kara pulls away just far enough to let her eyes roam his face, and Lee can't tell what she's thinking. "Because we've had that conversation before, remember?"

Lee can feel her heart beat against his chest even though she's no longer pressed against him, can feel her arms still tight around his ribs. He stares back at her, trying to figure out what's going on inside her head. He remembers her eyes dancing, the sudden way she leaned towards him around the table. He remembers cold metal and hot skin and not enough liquor left in his veins to make it not mean something.

"Well, then maybe we should get what we can, right now."

The look in her eyes tells him she remembers. Her arms around him go rigid, and Lee wonders if she's going to push him away. He wants to lock his arms around her and not give her the choice of leaving, but this is Kara, and he knows the worst thing he could do is cage her. So he fights against the impulse and hopes that she understands what he's trying to say.

Her voice is soft and he's reminded of moonlight and soft dirt beneath his feet and his chest full of laughter, voice going raw from shouting.

"Where are we going with this, Lee?" Kara asks, and something in her voice sounds like maybe she's afraid of the answer. But she's not moving away, so Lee lets his hold on her tighten, drawing her close again until he can rest his forehead against hers.

"Maybe you're right, Kara. Maybe we don't have much time left before our number is up. Maybe we don't have a choice about it. But I spent sixteen months without you while you were down on that frakking planet, and even when you came back, it was like you were still gone and I didn't know how to find you again. And I can't do that again. I can't lose you again."

Kara's eyes are closed and Lee can feel her breath hot and quick against his lips. For a minute she's still and quiet, but then Lee feels her wrap her arms around him more securely, and he can hear the hint of a smile in her voice.

"I'll drink to that," she whispers, and the callback makes his breath catch in his throat.

When she tilts her head up, Lee wonders why he isn't surprised, but then her lips are brushing his and he forgets about everything else. The kiss is soft and sweet and so unlike anything he's ever expected from her and has only experienced once before, but it feels right in a way that nothing else ever has. Lee sighs into her and feels her smile before she pulls away to look at him.

"Guess it's just you and me, then," she says with a slight grin.

"Yep. Just you and me."

"Good," Kara says, and when she kisses him again he thinks it means _I missed you_ and _I need you_ and _I love you_ , and when he kisses her harder, he means _welcome home_.  



End file.
